Station #2: Common People CONTEXT The song Common People, performed and written by English alternative rock band Pulp, was released in 1995. The band states that the song “rails against the most ignorant of the upper class,” whom either “want to be like common people, under the false presumption that the poor have it easy,” or ascribe to “the glamorization of poverty.” In Europe, this phenomenon in referred to as “bohemian slumming” and “class tourism.”
The song was covered by former Star Trek star William Shater on his album Has Been, produced by Ben Folds. Shatner’s version made it onto Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 and placed at “Number 24” on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Best Songs of 2004.” Shatner clearly did not write the lyrics. Yet, in interviews, he refers to the words as “autobiographical.”
In 2007, a ballet called Common People, set to the song, was produced by Margo Sappington and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet (itself comprised of impoverished dancers, yearning to contribute to the arts without want for profit).
First, watch the following short video clip at your station. Click here.
Next, cue the song below. (To accommodate different computers, the song may be listened to in any one of the following three, separate file formats: AAC/iTunes, .MP3, or .WAV. If one doesn't play, try another!)As you listen, annotate the lyrics in your pamphlet, making note of specific statements that strike you as having Marxist undertones.
AAC/iTunes File
.MP3 File
.WAV File
LYRICS: She came from Greece. She had a thirst for knowledge. She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College—that’s where I caught her eye. She told me that her Dad was loaded. I said, “In that case, I’ll have a rum and Coca-Cola. She said, “Fine.” And in thirty seconds time she said, “I want to live like common people, I want to do whatever common people do, I want to sleep with common people— I want to sleep with common people . . . like you . . . “ Well, what else could I do? I said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
I took her to a supermarket. I don’t know why, but I had to start it somewhere—so it started there. I said, “Pretend you’ve got no money. She just laughed and said, “Oh, you’re so funny!” I said, “Yeah? Well I can’t see anyone else smiling in here . . .
“Are you sure you want to live like common people? You want to see whatever common people see? You want to sleep with common people? You want to sleep with common people like me?” But she . . . didn’t “understand.” She just smiled and held my hand.
[Narrator shouting at his “date.”] “Rent a flat above a shop! Cut your hair and get a job! Smoke some fags, then play some pool— Pretend you never went to school! But still you’ll never get it right When you’re laid in bed at night, Watching roaches climb your wall. If you call your Dad, he could stop it all. You’ll never live like common people. You’ll never do what common people do. You'll never fail like common people— You'll never watch your life slide out of view— And dance and drink and screw because there’s nothing else to do.”
[Narrator rallying his audience of “common people” to a revolt] Sing along with me, common people! Sing along and it might just get you thru! Laugh along with me common people! Laugh along, even though they’re laughing at you And the “stupid things” that you do. Because “You
[Narrator to his “date”] Think that poor is ‘cool.’” * * * * * Now take note of the still pictures below. Consider the meaning of these images.
Finally, engage in a small-group discussion. Each member of the group must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:
What specific information should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as evidence, what meaning can we make of this text, using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”?
CONTEXT
The song Common People, performed and written by English alternative rock band Pulp, was released in 1995. The band states that the song “rails against the most ignorant of the upper class,” whom either “want to be like common people, under the false presumption that the poor have it easy,” or ascribe to “the glamorization of poverty.” In Europe, this phenomenon in referred to as “bohemian slumming” and “class tourism.”
The song was covered by former Star Trek star William Shater on his album Has Been, produced by Ben Folds. Shatner’s version made it onto Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 and placed at “Number 24” on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Best Songs of 2004.” Shatner clearly did not write the lyrics. Yet, in interviews, he refers to the words as “autobiographical.”
In 2007, a ballet called Common People, set to the song, was produced by Margo Sappington and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet (itself comprised of impoverished dancers, yearning to contribute to the arts without want for profit).
First, watch the following short video clip at your station. Click here.
Next, cue the song below. (To accommodate different computers, the song may be listened to in any one of the following three, separate file formats: AAC/iTunes, .MP3, or .WAV. If one doesn't play, try another!) As you listen, annotate the lyrics in your pamphlet, making note of specific statements that strike you as having Marxist undertones.
AAC/iTunes File
.MP3 File
.WAV File
LYRICS:
She came from Greece. She had a thirst for knowledge.
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College—that’s where I caught her eye.
She told me that her Dad was loaded.
I said, “In that case, I’ll have a rum and Coca-Cola.
She said, “Fine.” And in thirty seconds time she said,
“I want to live like common people,
I want to do whatever common people do,
I want to sleep with common people—
I want to sleep with common people . . . like you . . . “
Well, what else could I do?
I said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
I took her to a supermarket.
I don’t know why, but I had to start it somewhere—so it started there.
I said, “Pretend you’ve got no money.
She just laughed and said, “Oh, you’re so funny!”
I said, “Yeah? Well I can’t see anyone else smiling in here . . .
“Are you sure you want to live like common people?
You want to see whatever common people see?
You want to sleep with common people?
You want to sleep with common people like me?”
But she . . . didn’t “understand.” She just smiled and held my hand.
[Narrator shouting at his “date.”]
“Rent a flat above a shop!
Cut your hair and get a job!
Smoke some fags, then play some pool—
Pretend you never went to school!
But still you’ll never get it right
When you’re laid in bed at night,
Watching roaches climb your wall.
If you call your Dad, he could stop it all.
You’ll never live like common people.
You’ll never do what common people do.
You'll never fail like common people—
You'll never watch your life slide out of view—
And dance and drink and screw because there’s nothing else to do.”
[Narrator rallying his audience of “common people” to a revolt]
Sing along with me, common people!
Sing along and it might just get you thru!
Laugh along with me common people!
Laugh along, even though they’re laughing at you
And the “stupid things” that you do.
Because “You
[Narrator to his “date”]
Think that poor is ‘cool.’”
* * * * *
Now take note of the still pictures below. Consider the meaning of these images.
Finally, engage in a small-group discussion. Each member of the group must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:
What specific information should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as evidence, what meaning can we make of this text, using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”?